Commercial Production Guide
Quoting Freeze-Drying Work
A good quote starts with questions, not prices. This guide structures the freeze-drying intake questions that make quotes comparable and honest, lists the variables that change a quote, and explains why quotes are refined after trials rather than promised before testing.
Category: Quoting
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The Intake Questions
Before pricing any job, collect the facts that pricing depends on:
- Product: what exactly is being freeze dried?
- Fresh weight: how much product, in what units?
- Expected batch size: one batch, several, or a standing schedule?
- Preparation required: who washes, cuts, cooks and portions?
- Pre-freezing required: does the product need pre-freezing, and who provides the freezer space?
- Packaging required: who supplies bags, absorbers and labels, and who packages?
- Desired package size: what net weight per finished package?
- Rehydration testing: does the client need rehydration verified as part of the work?
- Lab or reporting needed: is a test report required?
- Commercial or trial: is this a paid trial or a production run?
- Turnaround expectations: when does the client need it?
A printable intake form
The client trial guide ships a printable client trial intake form with the full field list. Use it for quotes too: the same facts that scope a trial scope a quote.
The Quote Variables
These variables move the quote, so each should be visible in the estimate:
- Preparation: more hands-on prep means more labor hours.
- High water content: more moisture means longer cycles and heavier load on the machine.
- High sugar: can slow drying, stick to trays and need extra care.
- Fat: changes cycle behavior, texture and expected storage life.
- Deep liquids or thick pieces: hard to dry evenly, often slower or riskier.
- Packaging: bag, absorber, label and packaging labor are real cost lines.
- Special testing: yield measurement, rehydration checks or written reports add work.
- Difficult cleanup: sticky or fatty products take longer to clean, which is part of the cycle gap.
- Small trial volume: fixed setup and effort spread over a tiny batch raises cost per kilogram.
Quotes Are Refined After Trials
Never promise exact results before testing
No one can promise yield, cycle time or finished quality for a product that has not run in your machine, your prep, your climate. Quote as an estimate, offer a paid trial for unknowns, and refine the production quote from the trial's measured results. See the trial success criteria guide for what defines success before the test.
A quote worth sending includes
- What is included: prep, cycle, packaging, testing, report, delivery.
- What is not included: anything outside the agreed scope.
- The assumptions: expected yield, expected cycle, who does which labor.
- The unknowns: what the quote depends on and how it will be confirmed.
- The trial path: what happens next if this product has never been run.
Ask Just Freeze Drying
Unsure how to price a specific situation? Ask Just Freeze Drying routes questions to the relevant guides. Capacity-type questions, in particular, are answered with the inputs they need, not from a machine maximum alone: see Capacity and Batches per Week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I quote without testing first?
You can estimate, with the assumptions labeled as estimates. The honest path for an untested product is a paid trial whose measured results become the production quote.
Why does a small trial volume cost more per kilogram?
Because fixed effort, setup, cleaning and reporting spread over fewer kilograms. Cost per kilogram is a real and normal consequence of small volumes.
How detailed should a quote be?
Detailed enough that both sides know what is included, what is excluded, and what the estimate rests on. Ambiguity in quotes is where disputes start.
Key Takeaways
- Quote from facts: run the intake questions before any price.
- Preparation, water content, sugar, fat, packaging, testing, cleanup and trial volume all move the quote.
- Refine production quotes from trial results; never promise exact outcomes before testing.
Related Guides
Continue through the Commercial Production Center with these related guides.